Carnegie's a nice place to relax

Carnegie's

2026 NW Market Street

789-6643

http://www.carnegiesrestaurant.com/

By Patricia Devine and Jim Anderson

Libraries built by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in the early 20th century once dotted the American landscape, with a few thousand built across the nation. Forty-four of them were created in Washington state alone, and Ballard is fortunate to have one of the remaining historic structures.

Carnegie's Restaurant and Bar is housed on the first floor of the old building; and the ornate woodwork, carved doorways, and wide windowsills remain to add to the building's charm. Ceilings rise to grand heights, and windows are huge, some gracefully curved with rounded glass windows. It makes a nice backdrop for this very European feeling restaurant.

The mostly impeccable service is friendly and attentive; food is served quickly, is hot when it's supposed to be. Yet the slightly formal service manner avoids the cloying "show-time" style that can drive us out of a restaurant.

The menu is substantial and certainly French. We choose the $32.50 per person fixed price menu, and never look back. On the evening of our visit, business is slow, and our accompanying slight anxiety of "if it's not crowded, is it because it's bad?" vanishes in a cloud of endorphins as carefully prepared, perfectly cooked items arrive at our table.

When course number one arrives, the lightly dressed crisp greens cushion a golden disc of fried goat cheese. Nicely portioned, this verdant harbinger of a salad has to take a back seat to the other first course offering, a bubbling little decorative tureen of French onion soup. Flecked with playfully tossed pieces of parsley and served piping hot, the top layer of cheese and toasted French bread shield the elixir broth below. After working our way down through the fragrant cheese and bread, we find a wine-kissed soup packed with saut/ed onions.

Copper River Salmon with rice and vegetables knocks us out with its preparation. We love it when the butter and salt are used with such restraint, and this dish underscores a kitchen commitment to flavor and appearance. The generously portioned salmon practically explodes with flavor, yielding to the most gentle of fork action, revealing the rich color often absent elsewhere in overcooked versions. A bright yellow citrus sauce provides accompaniment, and this concentrated flavor-enhancer turns heads at our table.

Seared little tenderloin medallions bookend the other second course choice, and they also don't disappoint. The slightly crunchy exterior hides a pink and warm center, exactly as ordered. A small puddle of brown sauce sits underneath, providing added flavor while still leaving us with control over just how much sauce to apply. We like the "underneath saucing" technique just for this reason; it's decorative, flavorful, and let's us decided how much to apply.

A word about the vegetables at Carnegie's is in order. Fresh and full of snap, this is a style that we wish would be embraced by other restaurant cooking staffs. Crunchy, hot, presented with flair, and not loaded with BS (Butter and Salt), these vegetables (and the diner!) get the respect they deserve.

Round three begins with chocolate mousse and a blueberry torte, and frankly we're a little worn out already. With all of the oohing and ahhing about the salmon, beef, vegetables, and laboring as hard as we did working down through the French onion soup, we've gone through a lot of adrenalin here. But the smooth and creamy mousse satisfies, and the custardy torte, with an almost cheesecake style crust, also gets eaten with little effort.

Carnegie's wine list offers some interesting and off-the-beaten-path choices for some very nice prices. We sampled a red and white, and nice glasses can be had for 7 or 8 dollars.

The friendly pricing and quality of the wines makes Carnegies a nice place to sit and relax. The big space and massive structures soak up ambient sound, creating a quiet and peaceful environ, enhanced with the light and clear sound of classical music. With the special environment, beautifully executed food and balanced drink menu, Carnegies offers a solid choice as a "special meal" venue. The promising bar menu and friendly atmosphere also make it a good choice for more casual outings as well.

Tidbits: Central Market in Shoreline (not Ballard, but close by) features Friday Nights at the Market through August, with dinners for $6-$7 and free live music. This week (June 20) it's blues and babyback ribs. See their Web site for details. http://shoreline.central-market.com. Know anything we should know? Tell the Ballard Food Police at ballardfoodpolice@gmail.com.